Origin: Santiago, Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Brazil, Dominican Republic
Binder: Indonesia, Connecticut
Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua
Length: 5.00
Ring Gauge: 52
Size Name: XL/52
Strength: Full

A couple weeks ago I dropped bye my local cigar shop and took a look around in the walk in humidor. This was the first time I’ve been there in a few weeks and was surprised to see some new cigars in the humidor. One of the new cigars caught my eye and made me laugh a little. I picked up an Oliverous XL for Men Maduro.

The cigar looked great so I decided to give it a shot. I brought this one home and let it sit in the humidor for a week or so. After letting the cigar rest a little while I decided it was about time to light it up and see what it had to offer.

After pulling the cigar from its cellophane sheath I couldn’t help but notice the nice oily sheen that covered the wrapper. The sheen in addition to the rich Maduro color made it appealing right away. The texture was relatively smooth with some small protruding veins and the overall feel was firm. The wrapper also had a semi sweet but strong aroma.

I used my plug cutter on the cap and checked the draw. The pre light draw was just how I like it, free flowing with some resistance. I toasted the foot and began to light the cigar. The actual lighter process was quick and easy resulting in a nice even burn.

The initial puff produced loads of smoke that were rich and creamy. The initial flavor was what I would consider smoky. The body was full right from the start but was light on the pallet. The heavy smoke seemed to roll off the pallet after just a few short seconds making for a nice start.

After a few puffs the smoky flavor began to change to more of a woody taste. The body mellowed out just a little while the finish stayed the same. The burn was nice and the ash was firm and light in color.

As I got a little further into the stick I began to get some burn problems. The burn was beginning to vary throughout the ring gauge. It seemed that some spots burned faster than others, which resulted in a lumpy looking burn. This went on for a few minutes then corrected itself. The flavors started to change on me as well. I began to taste some floral tones with a sweet aftertaste on my lips.

When I got to about the mid point of this cigar, I tasted yet another flavor change. The floral and sweet tones began to fade at which point I began to taste light notes of black pepper with a spicy bite in the back of my throat. The body began to quickly pick up pace and become stronger while the finish was just a bit heavier than it was to start, but it was still smooth and enjoyable.

As I approached the final third of this cigar the pepper flavor quickly became dominant. Although there were still spicy notes in the back of my throat they were a bit muted by the black pepper.

After an hour and a half it was finally time to put this cigar to rest. I burnt it down until I could no longer hold it, and enjoyed it very much. With a name like XL for Men I wasn’t expecting much from this stick, it was just one of those cigars you buy just because of the name.

Overall I think that this cigar was pretty good. The multiple flavor changes were very nice. The body packs a lot of punch, so if you had a light meal and it is early in the day, smoke at your own risk.